Kinematic design optimization of an actuated carrier for the DLR multi-arm surgical system

In this paper, a generic approach to optimize the design of an actuated carrier for the DLR multi-arm surgical system is presented. The carrier is attached to the ceiling of the operating room and provides additional degrees of freedom to the surgical robots with the purpose of automatic, optimal positioning of their bases as well as guaranteeing high stiffness. Standard workspaces of minimally invasive as well as open surgical procedures are considered and optimization criteria are derived. The minimum necessary degrees of freedom of the carrier are obtained as well as the optimal segment dimensions by use of an optimization with genetic algorithms.